The document discusses strategies for economic gardening and civic engagement. It describes how the Town of Windsor engaged young people by creating opportunities for them to serve on boards and commissions. It also discusses how the towns of Farmington and Middletown, Connecticut revitalized their downtown areas through planning, placemaking, and attracting new businesses. A civic entrepreneur describes a makerspace that brings people together and supports local innovation. The discussion focuses on cultivating talent, connections, and a passion for local communities.

1. ECONOMIC GARDENING
How sowing the seeds of civic engagement can push the boundaries
of economic development
Thursday
October 20, 2016 | 2:00-3:30

2. YES Who?
• Goal is to empower young people to create vibrant
communities.
• Statewide steering committee works to create a pipeline
between young people and local boards and
commissions, while drawing attention to issues affecting
millennials in CT.
Help to inspire great CT
downtowns through
education, advocacy and
technical assistance.
Focus on healthy
neighborhoods, creating
more affordable housing
and a mission to end
homelessness.

3. • Dr. Jody Terranova, Deputy Mayor, Town of Windsor
(CT)
• Bill Warner, AICP, Town Planner, Town of Farmington
(CT)
• Hannah Gant, Civic Entrepreneur & Spark
Makerspace Board Member, New London (CT)
• Alec Lopez, Owner, Armsby Abbey (MA)
• Moderated by Jason Vincent, AICP, Director of
Planning, Town of Stonington
Our Panelists

4. Let’s Get Started
Our Moderator:
Jason Vincent
Director of Planning,
Town of Stonington
Owner, Epicure Brewing

5. Engaging the Community
Jody Terranova
Windsor Deputy Mayor

6. Why is this important?
• Many open seats on some
boards and commissions
• Limited opportunities for
new voices on other boards
and commissions
• Diversity of board and
commissions not
representative of current
demographics of the town

7. Goals
• Fill vacant seats with
qualified applicants from
a diverse pool
• Engage new members of
the community

8. How can we accomplish this?
• Change the system
• Update the process for
advertising and
applying for openings
on Boards &
Commissions

9. Limitations of Old System
• Process directed all citizens, including
unaffiliated, to go through Republican or
Democratic Town Committees
• Traditionally drawing from small pool of citizens
already engaged in the community
• Difficult to identify when current terms expiring
and seats would be potentially open
• Current volunteers unaware someone else may
be interested

10. New Process
• Subcommittee of
Town Council formed
• Town website
revamped
– Online applications
– Listing of open seats
and soon to expire
terms
– Removal of party
affiliation on website

11. Outcomes
• Change is slowly adopted
• Very few vacancies now
• Many new volunteers, especially unaffiliated,
wider ages ranges and improved socioeconomic
and racial diversity
• Some long term volunteers ready to step down
knowing there is someone willing to step up.

12. Creating Regulatory
Opportunities
William Warner, AICP
Town Planner, Farmington CT
Former Director of Planning,
Conservation & Development
Middletown CT

13. How do Planners support innovation
and the will of the community?
• Out of the box thinking
• Educate
• Plan
• Implement

14. Middletown Early 1990’s
• Severe downturn
• Years of de-institutionalization at CVH
• Proliferation of Social Services
• Homeless problem
• Tragedy at annual sidewalk sale
• Mass closings Sears, Woolworth's, Food Mart and
smaller stores
• Over 60% vacancy rate on Main St.
• No one downtown at night or weekends
• Very low income census tract
• No connection between college / downtown / river

15. Setting the Stage
• Established a Downtown Planning Sub-
Committee
• Created Downtown Visions: 2000 and Beyond –
the first Downtown Plan
Vision
“A thriving college town on the
banks of the CT River”

16. Getting the Ball Rolling
Small Victories
• Conducted a Slogan & Logo Contest and Main Street banners
• Planted over 500 trees along the gateways into Middletown
• Cleaned windows / sidewalks
• Repaired Public Clocks
• Required retail frontage on Main Street
• Established maximum and minimum building heights and
setbacks, new signage regulations
• Prohibited new curb cuts, free standing signs, drive thru’s, adult
uses, pawn shops, check cashing, tattoo and body piercing
• Prohibited new social services and store front churches
• Lots of flexibility in parking

17. Sidewalk and
International Dining

18. Police Department and
First & Last Tavern

19. Police Department and
First & Last Tavern
• Award winning design reminiscent of Old City Hall
• First Floor retail attracts pedestrian foot traffic

20. Kidcity Children’s Museum

21. The Inn at Middletown

22. Liberty
Square

23. Remington Rand

24. Vision
“A thriving college town on the banks of the CT River”
“We may be biased but we think downtown Middletown is the place to be. The
city we affectionately refer to as “mini New Haven” has everything the bigger
cities have to offer – culture, dining, shopping, luxury accommodations, a high
ranking university.”
Connecticut Magazine April 2009

25. Great Press & Recognition
Middletown ranks #6 in the
“Top Ten of New England Main Streets”
-Boston Globe’s ExploreNewEngland.com
Main Street’s “Restaurant Row” “…the small City of
Middletown, Connecticut, packs more
international flavor on its Main Street than places
four times its size.”
- Yankee Magazine, November 2005
“Middletown boasts the most robust
community arts programming I’ve seen
in this state… there’s something about
being within walking distance of 5 to 10
separate, simultaneous performances that
makes you feel like you’re in the middle
of something hot.”
Dan Barry – Hartford Advocate
December 2007
“The comeback of Main Street
is a victory of both good sense
and good planning.Good
sense for emphasizing public
safety first; good planning for
picking a viable goal, sticking
with it and using a lot of
imagination to make it
happen.”
Tom Condon, Hartford Courant
October 2006
“Middletown continues to
surprise as it evolves into
an interesting restaurant
town with a wide choice
of cuisines,
consistently better than
average food and the
only known Tibetan
restaurant
in the state.”
New York Times
June 2006

26. Farmington, CT
• Affluent suburb of Hartford
• Very conservative
• Huge grand list
• Lowest taxes outside of Fairfield County
• More jobs than residents
• West Farms Mall
• UCONN / Jackson Lab BioScience
• No sense of place, no downtown

27. Charles House Commons

28. Farmington Center

29. No Plan – Post DOT
Top 10 Reasons to Plan
1.Multiple small properties with multiple owners
2.Most properties not in the historic district
3.Hodgepodge of uses and zoning classifications
4.Area is underutilized
5.Area is highly susceptible to change

30. No Plan – Post DOT
Top 10 Reasons to Plan
6. Market is strong for new development after DOT
7. State Department of Transportation road project will
permanently alter the character and functionality of the study
area.
8. Future use of Parsons property
9. Most significant gateway into town
10. This gateway does not reflect Farmington’s image of
charming historic buildings and high quality new development

31. SWOT, Urban Design Classroom,
Model Building Workshop

32. Final Product

33. Conclusion
How do planners support innovation and the will of
the community?
• Out of the box thinking!
• Make it happen - Don’t just wait for it to happen
• Think big - people will appreciate it

34. Growing Innovation
Hannah Gant
Civic Entrepreneur, Spark Makerspace Board Member

36. Spark Premise // Core Curiosity
People are naturally talented in specific ways
Most people are not doing what they are good at
Money and old rules / structures / boundary lines get in the
way
What would happen if we created a context that
helped people and organizations get into
working roles that align talents, interests, and
purpose?
Designing for the time of our lives

38. Spark is an all-ages playground
“Community-run workshop and learning center”
People showing up as community members (not just
economically interested)
Cultivating a supportive context to make things and make
things happen
Reintegrating learning and doing with peer-to-peer sharing
set in a cooperative structure that optimizes multiple
capitals and closed-loop / regenerative dynamics
Multiple classes of members so everything can be part of
Creating fertile grounds to increase the germination rate

41. Spark is a Commons // Spark is a
Cultivator
Base: unlocking learning, deep generosity, & playfulness
Org structure: Individuals, Groups & Businesses, and Anchor
Institutions all part of the same thing enabling breakdown
of current ideas about private property
Dynamics: Sharing multi-capital resources with reciprocal
relationships so that all needs can be met in real time
((indirect reciprocity))
Setting the stage for economic sovereignty by
getting into economy with one another in a
synergistic way

43. How does this build a local economy?
Generating fertility for a regenerative economy to take root by cultivating
the essence of people with purposeful shared work set in unique context
of place
Increasing the germination rate of new ideas
Helping residents step into direct responsibility for maintenance of their
place
Evolving a new type of public by integrating
government, private and 3rd sector
(nonprofits) to all become part of the same
entity that coordinates activities to flow
resources where they need to go in real time

44. Thames River Innovation Place
CURE Innovation Commons & Spark
Makerspace
Municipalities of New London &
Groton, Southeastern CT
Enterprise Region
Connecticut College, NL Public
Schools, UCONN AP & School of
Engineering
SECT Cultural Coalition, Hispanic
Health Alliance
Pfizer, EB, and growing!

45. What is the potential of the Cultivator?
Not waiting to be saved by others, like major employers providing
“jobs”
Developing internal capability and capacity to do work that is
“uneconomic” because there is will, talent, and resources to make
things happen
Real estate implications = alternative to Community Land Trust model
that is self-financing
Cultivating a reinvigorated Commons
www.spark.coop // hello@hannahgant.com

46. Growing Innovation
Alec Lopez
Owner, The Armsby Abbey,
Crust Bakery, The Dive Bar

47. A passion for local
Credit Sarah Connell
Credit John Dion
Credit Foodies of New England

48. Cultivating Talent & Connections

49. Discussion

51. Our Panelists:
• Dr. Jody Terranova, Deputy Mayor, Town of Windsor (CT)
• Bill Warner, AICP, Town Planner, Town of Farmington (CT)
• Hannah Gant, Civic Entrepreneur & Spark Makerspace
Board Member, New London (CT)
• Alec Lopez, Owner, Armsby Abbey (MA)
• Moderated by Jason Vincent, AICP, Director of Planning,
Town of Stonington
THANK YOU!!

52. Christine Schilke
CT Main Street Center & YES Co-Chair
Email: christine@ctmainstreet.org
Phone: 860.280.2356
YES Website: www.yesct.org
CMSC Website: www.ctmainstreet.org
Contact Info